THE TAPAS KITCHEN
by Nicky Rigby-Smith & Si Hall
You will now be aware of the winners of the 'Best Restaurant of the Year'
at the Wirral Life™Awards - The Art School, Mowgli Street Food and The
Tapas Kitchen. As the first two are in Liverpool, this makes West Kirby's
The Tapas Kitchen officially the best restaurant on the Wirral in 2018! cheese, but understandably 'Best Spanish cheese winner 2017', La Peral –
semi soft blue cheese form Asturias, a creamy vegetarian Manchego, Monte
Enebro – excellent goats cheese, honey coated. Served with artisan biscuits,
membrillo, grapes and honey. Excellent.
Manager Colin invited us along to remind us of just how good they are. NOTE: Request the amazing Fabada. The notable chef 's here are always
playing with different ideas, so the menu itself is a moveable feast. One of
our editors had previously made the huge exclamation that the Fabada (a
rich smokey chorizo, morcilla, pork belly and white bean stew) was not only
the best version he'd ever tasted, but was in the top five dishes he'd tasted
in the world!! The judges were equally as stunned and in 100% agreement.
Honestly, it's staggeringly good!
Tapas or small plates in general are hugely popular right now, so for these
guys to stand out, it surely must be something special. Literally everything
about the Spanish 'inspired' menu has their own unique re-imagining of the
classics.
The team are obsessed with flavour, even what would appear to be visually
very simple dishes, once tasted you realise they're anything but. They'll take a
classic and think, "to be on our menu, it needs to be ten times tastier".
And so we begin... with Woodland Mushrooms, garlic, butter, chilli, olive
oil and wilted greens. This isn't any old garlic mushrooms. A multitude of
different wild mushrooms, each with their own flavour makes this really
stand out.
Next up was the Basque Seafood stew, with white fish, king prawns, and
mussels, pimento broth. A really tasty combination and a very substantial
portion. Then came the Seared hand dived scallops, horseradish flavoured
mojo verde. Cooked to perfection, meaty but buttery soft and light. Followed
by Steamed fresh asparagus, smoked pimento flavoured hollandaise. We
thought ok, how can you sex up asparagus? They look so simple, but the
extra flavours were a real surprise. Lovely.
Next came a huge Four Meat platter. Serrano Ham reserve, Cecina (smoked
beef), Somalo chorizo vela, Lomo Aragon. A moreish, carefully considered
selection of some of the finest meats you rarely see on a menu. Delicious!
We were excited to try the Honey glazed belly pork with dulce de memrillo
and sal de anana, as a lot of places get this wrong and it ends up being tough
and dry. Obviously these boys nailed it - soft, moist, delicious. Again the
Skewered Chicken in a pinchitos marinade with (all chefs favourite) classic
romesco sauce, looked deceptively simple. The usual recipe calls for only 4
spices, but after a number of experiments, this taste sensation is a carefully
thought out combo of no less than 20 spices. Genius.
Finally, a cheeseboard like no other... Le Retorta – vegetarian, a smelly
44 wirrallife.com
All the portions are so substantial that we really struggled to find room for
a dessert. So we opted to share one. The rich velvety (gluten free) chocolate
mousse with sour cherries, a delicate splash of olive oil and a hint of sea salt.
Another flavour combo sensation.
There is an excellent wine menu, with the obligatory Spanish Cava served in
beautiful Cava glasses and a really interesting and considered beer selection,
created for food.
Something else these guys are particularly good at, is cocktails. We think it's
inspired that the '2 for 1 Cocktail Hour' is 9.30pm to 10.30pm every Friday
and Saturday night, perfect for after dinner indulgence.
We couldn't resist the Apple Mojito - super refreshing, a Gazpacho Vodka
Cooler - like a seasoned Bloody Mary and a Frozen Passion Fruit Daiquiri
- an orgasmic twist on the classic Porn Star Martini, but with white rum.
In summary: It's very clear The Tapas Kitchen love playing with ingredients
to really push the flavour boat out, striving to deliver fresh, simple, classic,
great value, substantial dishes with their own distinct unique twist, that
knocks your tastebuds out of the park...
Well, it's a home run. Full marks.
Congratulations on your Wirral Life™ ' Restaurant of the Year' Award.
To book call 0151 625 8111.